The Road not Taken
by sentinel10
Summary: Wrapping her arms around her torso she shook her head, building up some kind of internal courage to stand up to him finally. It was hard - perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.
1. Leaving

**I do not own Twilight**

* * *

The Road Not Taken

Chapter One

"Did you know that when I was five, my daddy taught me how to ride a bike?" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper, her voice low and raspy, her voice probably going undetected if he hadn't been a vampire.

The constant patter of the colder than ice rain fell upon the roof of the old beat up car as they sat in a blanket of almost silence. She could feel his eyes wandering over her in question and she held back everything she wanted to really say.

To tell him he was a fucking coward, to tell him that all of the things they'd built around themselves was a beautiful lie. A lie of a life _they_ could never have. Not together. And the life he _already_ had with his wife.

Maybe it was better to sit in the silence. Let the sounds around them drown out the sounds of things that were inevitable. Like the cold peninsular rain, the heartbreak, the pain.

It was all so vivid. So fresh. Like being able to touch the heart as it beat inside a chest, its raw power to give life and then to eventually take it away. Like all things, like gravity; what goes up must come down. To fall and shatter against the cold earth in an unbelievable mess of destruction.

"The last time you told me this story, the younger _you _was six years old." he drawled, his smirk present even though he could feel the tension rolling off her in waves.

She was unsure, hurt, and indecisive but most of all determined. She was determined to have her way, with his permission or not.

He was always so tapped into everything she felt, every single feeling that strobed through her veins. They were like one in the same.

"Yes, and the last time you interrupted me then as well," she snapped back angrily, sucking in her bottom lip almost immediately to calm herself back down.

She knew he was going to try and play it off, tell her that she was making a mistake, make her feel that _this_ time would be the time he left his wife for her. Though he never did. And she suspected he never would.

Wrapping her arms around her torso she shook her head, building up some kind of internal courage to stand up to him finally. It was hard - perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.

Her hair slowly fell out from behind her ears and hung limply in front of her face, disparaging him from the view of her profile. He saw her shoot a glance in his direction out the corner of her eye and before he could tuck her hair back like he'd always done, she took the liberty in doing it herself.

He could feel her nervousness as she bit down on the corner of her mouth, her teeth pressing firmly into her pink plump lip, almost hard enough for it to pierce the skin.

"My daddy always said – make sure you live your life for no one. Make sure you do the things that make you happy, that make you smile."

She took a sharp breath and closed her eyes, picturing her father with his huge grin and his big brown eyes that were untouched by age. And death. Her daddy was wise and loving. Something any man would be hopeful to be. Something that any man would willingly be for those he loved. Except for the one beside her.

She wasn't happy anymore.

"But I make you smile, don't I?" he whispered as he brushed his cold fingertips down the flesh of her cheek, the warmth from her skin leaving him entranced and mesmerised as it always had.

He could feel the panic as it all but leaked from her pores to the surface, her body flinching and her face pulling back from his touch.

With a deep frown and an ample breath she shook her head and held her palm to her face, feeling the cool of his touch still linger there across her skin.

She shuddered laying the heat over the cool trails, thinking back to the times they'd spent, wrapped fully in the sensation of true fire meeting painfully beautiful ice. The hard lines of his chest, the ample fullness of her breasts, meshed tightly into a searing and intoxicating feeling. His hands as they rubbed across her skin, as they clamped down into her thighs and around her hips as they both whimpered and growled.

But this was no longer. _Couldn't_ - be any longer. It had to stop and it had to stop now. It was already too much, too dangerous, too - _familiar_.

"I can feel your fear darling. Tell me – do I frighten you?" he asked feeling his undead heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.

He had an inkling on why she wanted to meet. Why she sounded desperate and urgent. Why her belongings were piled to the roof in the old beat up car her Alpha had given her. Why she was meeting him here, now.

"I can name many things that frighten me, leech. Sadly, you aren't one of them." Leah sighed as she bundled her fingers through her hair before letting the tresses fall once again to her shoulders.

"I should be scared of you. I should have never come to your home with the pack. I should have _never _looked... at you."

"Tell me – how _do _you look at me?" he asked, shuffling himself closer to her and resting his palm on the middle of the console between them while the other found the wheel in front of her lap. "_Look _at me and tell me," he whispered, his nose almost brushing her cheek as he breathed into her ear.

Closing her eyes and sighing as his icy breath hit her neck; she turned slowly towards him and looked him in the eyes. Even in the darkness she could see the golden hue soaking his orbs. They were the eyes of her mortal enemy. The eyes of the thing that made her different – that made her a monster.

"I look at you like you're the only thing that is worth living for in my life. That my whole universe revolves around you. Like – like I would die, for you," she whispered as she gave a quick glance down to his lips, unknown to herself that she'd done so.

"And you look at me like-"

She stopped mid-sentence as his lips came down against hers, roughly at first. His tongue had parted her lips quickly as she allowed it to delve inside her mouth longingly. He was attempting to ignite the fire inside her. Feed her. Fuel her. Fuel her with the power to love him, without question and without reason. Like she had the first time she'd laid eyes on him.

The back of his fingers brushed lovingly across the apple of her cheek before he pulled away and gave her a saddened half smile. He knew it was a losing battle. If anything could be said about Leah Clearwater it was that once she had her mind set, there was no turning back. No grey areas. And no in between.

"I look at you like i love you," he replied with finality, kissing her cheek before resting back in the chair.

Leah did believe it, but love wasn't enough. Not this time.

"I would give anything for you to look at _me_ like you look at her. Like the moment we met, wasn't the moment you most regretted. Like the moment we met - _I _was it - for you," she explained, wiping her cheeks roughly with her palms.

"That's not true Leah! I do _not_ regret you," he growled out, clamping her chin in his hard grip so she would look at him.

Her face was set in pain and her sight sat heavily out the windscreen, attempting to look anywhere but at him.

"No," she whispered, her eyes slowly moving across the inside of the car and back toward his own. "But you do regret... _us._"

Her eyes dropped again, this time not stopping at his lips, but falling down to her lap.

Silence once again filled the car as he dropped his grasp and pulled a frustrated hand through his blonde hair, leaving it messy and teased.

"So there is nothing I can do? Nothing that will make you stay?" he asked already reciting her question over and over again in his head. The same question she asked before they made love. The same question she'd always asked, hoping for the right answer though never seeming to attain it. He wanted to give it to her. He wanted it to be right. But he couldn't.

"Will you leave your wife?"

The deafening silence was a final answer.

The only answer.

The answer she'd known would be her ultimate betrayal. Love him all she wanted, he would never love her as much as he loved Alice.

"Write to me please. I would love to hear from you," he sighed as he reached for the handle of the door, letting his fingertips dance on the plastic before he popped it open softly. "Perhaps a call every now and then?"

"Sure Jasper. Every day," she muttered as she started the engine of the rust and primer covered rabbit she gotten from Jacob.

He knew she was lying. Not only to him, but to herself. She wouldn't call. She wouldn't write. She wouldn't ever see him again – not if she had a choice.

As soon as he was out of the car he turned around and peered into the car, taking one last look at her.

He knew she'd never cared about what she'd worn, though this time she looked dazzling. Her long hair was prim and proper, curled and ironed in all the right places. Her normally long toned legs were wrapped in dark wash jeans instead of the usual ragged cut-offs. Her shoulders held a beautiful silk blouse which dipped in all the right places and her make up – while scarce – was visible.

"I love you, Leah. Please stay in touch -" Before he could get another word in her hand changed the gears into drive and she gave him a side glance indicating for him to step away from the car.

"Okay," she nodded before he gently shafted the door closed and the car began to pull away.

Fighting back a sob, Leah pressed her lips into a firm line as she watched Jasper's frame slowly disappear from the rear view mirror. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she watched the glimmer of sadness cross his face before he disappeared altogether into the thick forest greenery.

Her hands clenched tightly on to the steering wheel, hard enough to deter herself from turning the car back around and running after him, telling him she wanted him more than anything.

That was the old Leah. The old Leah that stood beside the blonde vampire, holding his hand tightly like he would slip away and she would fall into darkness forever. It was the old Leah that was hopeful to the future, that her dreams may come true and that he would realise she was the only one for him. That she could be everything he wanted. Needed.

But this was the new Leah. The one who took her own fate back. The one who wanted more from her life than the love of a man who had already given his heart to another. The new Leah who knew _all _things were inevitable.

Like the cold peninsular rain.

The heartbreak -

And _especially_ the pain...


	2. Sleepy El Paso

Chapter Two

A trickle of sweat rolled down her back, carving its way down in between her shoulder blades to run over her spine. Running over each crevice and plane it stopped at her jeans and soaked itself in the material there.

Lifting the tea towel from the wooden bench Leah wiped it across her forehead before tucking it back underneath the bar.

The smell of alcohol and sweat drifted through the open bar making her scrunch her nose momentarily before she grabbed another beer from the ice and popped the top free with the bottle opener. Twisting the opener in her palm, she hooked it back onto the back pocket of her jeans.

The umbrellas outside the establishment moved and shifted with the hot winds, while the concrete floor just seemed to continue to collect sand and dust which she would later broom out; only to have it blow in again the following day.

Sliding the cold beer across the bar she grimaced, feeling the customer's hand brush her own as he took it from her grasp.

He smiled seductively at her before leaning in and handing her a curled up twenty. He was good looking, young, built nicely but she knew no matter how much she tried she could never go home with the man and fuck her worries away. She desperately wanted to smile back, slip him her number and met up with him again, but she knew that nothing would come of such an encounter.

No matter how many men she slept with, no matter how many times she staggered home with another stranger, she couldn't shake the honey blonde from her head.

The same male that was the only one able to make her cum just by whispering in her ear and rolling his tongue around her lobe, sucking insensately on it, making it feel like it was hot wired to her clit.

The only man that could fill her completely, not just sexually but emotionally as well. She'd lost her other half – the other half of her soul, and there was no way _this_ man could fix it.

Pulling her hand from the bottle she smiled slightly before moving on to the next paying customer, making her shift through the same assumptions once again on the new stranger.

The heat in the bar seemed to be amplified as it touched her golden skin, the blood of the shifter making it impossible to cool even as she stood in front of the wall fans which were tied with pink streamers on the outer shell. The cool breeze only lasted a second, before her skin flushed and turned steamy once again.

Texas was probably not the ideal place for a shifter to move given the soaring temperature, but she couldn't help feel somehow connected to him by being in the place he grew up in, the place he was from.

It was strange in El Paso, given it was almost like neutral ground for the American Indian tribes around the area. She mostly had Apache men coming into the bar who would stare at her, trying to work out what skin clan she came from. The golden hue in her skin was not a familiarity around the area, most of the tribes consisting of a darker more reddish colour, probably due to the sun and harsher conditions.

She sometimes had an inkling that they knew what she was. That they knew she was more animal than woman. That the blood that ran through her was more powerful than just another Indian run away who took work in a small town bar. The white customer's just saw her as another Native girl, who was sweet on the eyes and had legs that went for days.

Her boss Gordon was a half bred Apache man that had crossed the borders into Jumano land to set up the rickety tin shed he called a bar going on ten years ago. She was glad the rabbit had gotten her at least this far before blowing some kind of a gasket and smoking out the whole cabin.

Her original intentions had been to travel all the way down to Mexico until she reached the ocean. She planned to dive into the ocean and feel everything wash away. The time they'd spent together, the way her name would roll off his tongue, the way his hands touched her - skittering over her body like she was somehow breakable. It was those memories that seemed to haunt her, wish she was anyone - _anything_- else but what she was.

It had been Gordon who stopped to check if she was alright and if she needed a lift somewhere, not wanting to leave a young woman stranded on the side of the road. Once he noticed all of her earthly belongings in the car, he knew she probably didn't have a destination and offered her a bed and a job the following day.

She was thankful for the hospitality and made sure to work hard. She wanted to repay Gordon for letting her stay in the run down caravan he had parked on bricks in his back yard, as well as saving enough money to fix the rabbit so she could continue on.

While it wasn't home, it was cosy. The dead grass surrounding her trailer made crunching noises when she'd wake in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and it seemed that no matter how many times she'd tried to water it, it stayed dead.

Much like her heart.

Unfortunately days and weeks turned into months and now that she was on her fourth month in the small town she supposed she could stay another three to make sure when she left that she would at least have some money to stay somewhere or heaven forbid fix the rabbit if it decided to break down _again_ on her way to Mexico city.

She contemplated calling Jacob but back-pedalled on the idea as soon as she remembered that her Alpha had never been tight lipped and would have probably told everyone back home where she was. Jacob was from good sorts but the sole fact that he literally laid red carpet out for his imprint made her see red.

He'd once been a good alpha; strong, determined, a leader, but after his imprint kicked in, he became all but. Even with her own imprint she had tried to retain some of her old self, even if it was just bitchy and moody.

Telling Jacob would be like telling Jasper where she was, and she wasn't quite ready to have that happen, just yet.

Of course it hurt, she'd expected it to. What she didn't anticipate though was the inability to move on from him. He still lingered inside her like a disease, moving from one area to another, burning and simmering her in all the places she couldn't get other men to satisfy, let alone reach.

Being with him had dammed her. Made her expect more. Made her _need_ more.

"Lee babe, could you go around back and grab some more ice from the freezer?" Gordon called out, ripping her from her trip down memory lane. "This bloody heat is turning all the ice into puddles."

"Damn Gordon, where is Eric? Isn't he meant to be here by now?" she grumbled, wiping her hands on a dish cloth to walk to the back.

Eric always conveniently disappeared when hard labour was involved, leaving it up to Leah to shift heavy boxes of alcohol and drag bags of ice to the front of the bar. The only real thing that stopped Leah from yelling and bitching at Eric was that he reminded her so much of the younger brother she'd left behind in LaPush.

Seth was still not talking to her after she'd told him she had no choice but to leave. She knew he would take it the hardest but she promised to try and write to him at least. The only thing she could manage so far was a text or email every now and then in between work, and it was usually met with a cold reply.

Eric was Gordon's only son and at the tender age of sixteen couldn't serve at the bar, but instead had been assigned to keep the ice coming and go pick up more boxes of alcohol from the suppliers in one of the bigger towns.

When the bar wasn't busy Leah would hop in the truck and go with Eric to keep him company or just so they could grab a bite on the way back. The bar had great beer, the food - not so much.

"Eric?" Leah called out as she walked through the back of the bar toward the freezers passing the stacks of boxes piled almost to the ceiling. She would definitely have to mention to Gordon the obvious fire safety dangers in the back room.

Coming to a stop in front of the freezers, Leah's brow raised as she heard the hushed whispers of voices coming from outside. The door was slightly open letting the dust dance in the strip of light that was filtering into the dark area. Walking closer she cocked her head noticing Eric's voice.

"I don't know where she is from."

His voice was echoing, an edge of fear lacing each word making the wolf under her skin prickle and become restless.

Eric was being bombarded with questions by several different voices. They were deep and alluring making her close her eyes and suck in a jagged breath. Her spine was tingling with the threat of danger and she had to take another breath just to calm herself down.

_'How long have you known her, what is she, does she travel alone?'_

Question after question they came and she knew that Eric would be having trouble trying to keep up with them. He wasn't exactly to brightest spark in the room but she knew he wasn't dumb. He was just young and naive.

"Eric?" she called again as she pulled the door open to look out in the back alley which housed most of the surrounding businesses bins.

Three large men stood in front of a very scared looking Eric, who looked just about ready to piss himself. His hands were tucked into his pockets and his head was down, his eyes trained on the dusty ground.

As soon as she'd stepped out the door the eyes of the three huge men snapped towards her. Her breathe caught as she heard the rumble of growls coming from their throats, their eyes softening to look curiously over her.

The biggest man in the middle she recognised as a regular at the bar. His long hair was strung into a pony tail, his jaw square and set sharply. His eyes were midnight black as he flashed a grin, the sun glittering off his teeth making him much more predatory than she'd ever noticed before.

She walked quickly toward Eric and stood by his side, grasping his elbow to position herself in front of him. It was almost like second nature. To her, Eric was merely a pup, and these three men stood in front of him to intimidate him by sheer size.

Turning around she grasped Eric's chin making him look at her. His eyes were watery and he was biting down on his bottom lip. She could smell the fear rolling off of him in lethal doses but she didn't want to make a scene in front of the other men.

"Go inside. Your father needs more ice for the bar," she all but growled, making his eyes widen and head nod quickly.

Turning to the three men, she grimaced noticing they were taking long languid looks over her body. The one in the middle seemed especially smug with himself.

Hearing the click of the back door signalling Eric's departure she balled her fists to her sides. "What the hell were you doing to him?" she asked, eying each man thoroughly.

"Nothing, _beautiful_. We were merely asking the boy some questions."

His voice was rich and moved through her much like Jacob's once had. Taking a step back she growled noticing a certain scent lingering in the air.

"What do you want?" Leah sneered at the obvious Alpha in the middle. She couldn't tell which creatures they were but she knew they were different to humans. Different even to wolves.

"She's feisty" the shorter one commented towards his alpha making Leah's veins throb under her skin. The she wolf inside of her fought to tear apart and destroy.

"She's hot! Can we keep her?" the taller, ganglier one pleaded reminding her of Embry, her pack brother back in LaPush.

"_Quiet,_" the dominant alpha hissed, snapping his teeth at the two before turning back to Leah with a longing look resting in his eyes. "We are here to introduce ourselves. My name is Kylore, but Kyle for short. This is Wylie-" he gestured with his head to the shorter one "- and this is Marius, my brother," he said motioning to the taller one with his thumb.

"Like I give a _fuck _what your names are," Leah roared, a fire now lit in both her belly and her eyes. "If I _ever _catch you around here trying to pull that shit on a sixteen year old, I'll hold no pity for what I do to you." she warned, her wolf buzzing with excitement at the game its human counterpart was playing.

She could see Kylore's jaw tense, his teeth locked together in frustration. His fingers were twitching and his breathing was becoming jagged and reckless.

She wondered if she could take on three supernatural creatures who were double her size and the only answer she could find, lay in that of her wolf. Not as a human - but a wolf.

In a matter of seconds his eyes flashed silver and his grin reappeared. "I like you Leah Clearwater, but do not underestimate my kindness for weakness. I am not a man that can easily be swayed, because once I set my sights on something, I make sure to _claim _it." The threat was underlying in his words but she heard it loud and clear. It wasn't just a something - it was _her_.

"Alright boys, run along now," Gordon announced as he stepped from the back door of the bar with a rifle in his hands. "We wouldn't want me to accidentally put a bullet in your asses now, would we?" he asked, cocking the loaded gun and resting it on his shoulder.

Wylie growled as he stepped forward before Kylore shot out a hand and stopped him from advancing.

"Of course not Gordon. We don't want any trouble," the alpha nodded, signalling the two men beside him to drop back.

His eyes rested on Leah again and he smirked. His voice was low enough for Gordon not to hear it, but Leah felt the shivers run up her spine as he spoke. "Until we meet again, _Lyani._"

Leah jumped when Gordon placed and hand on her shoulder. She'd been too busy watching the men retreat, and while the two other men walked with their backs to her, Kylore slowly walked backwards keeping his eyes trained on her until he turned at the end of the building, disappearing out of sight.

"You okay?" Gordon asked pulling his hand quickly away noticing that she was slightly dishevelled from the encounter.

"Fine." she nodded as she turned and walked with him back toward the door.

She couldn't help but take one more look down the alley way before closing the door and jamming the deadbolt locked.

_..._


	3. Clouds on the Horizon

Chapter Three

The afternoon wind was hot as Leah slumped back into the old plastic garden chair which looked like it had lived eons longer than her. It creaked as she leaned back, stretching her arms high above her head while letting her feet point against the grass. The chair was well worn, it's original bright colours now faded to a pasty glum looking pattern.

She felt sorry for the chair, sad that it would live out the rest of its days with her and the sorrowful caravan. Maybe she would end its pain and snap it to pieces to watch it burn in a fiery pit. Shaking her head of the ridiculous thoughts she sighed.

Looking out across the rocky terrain she reached out to the small foot stool and grasped the cold beer between her fingertips. Twisting and flicking the cap off with her thumb and forefinger she took a long pull from the frothy ale. It wasn't the top shelf beer that Jasper preferred her to drink but it was a whole shit load better than nothing.

She wondered what her sparkly vampire would be doing at this very moment. Would he be watching the same sky, would he be thinking of her - of _them_ - of the us they once had? Would he reminisce and wonder if she'd freshly washed her hair? Would he recognise the low under pining smell of the coconut and apple shampoo that he often comment her on; that was his favourite?

Or rather, would he see the deep dark circles under her eyes, noticing how, when she smiled, the happiness didn't reach her eyes? Not like it used to - Not any more. Would her notice how thin she'd gotten over the months, how her normally shiny and full hair, was dull and lifeless. Lifeless like her eyes.

Leah scoffed and berated her thoughts again. Of course not. He'd be with his _lovely_ wife.

The cold dead wife he wanted to spend the rest of the eternity with.

She supposed that if she herself were imprinted on, she would try to fight it as well. It wasn't a choice of both parts, she didn't ask to be tied to a man that already had a 'love of his life', and he didn't ask for a woman he barely knew to almost tear his marriage apart.

Though it didn't help that he came to her bed, held her like no man could or ever would. I didn't help that he smirked, winked, and licked his icy lips. Everything he did turned her on and there was no possible way to just flick a switch to make it disappear.

If it were raining in Forks he'd probably be reading an old worn book, something historical, perhaps a first edition piece. It wouldn't be like Bella's - fail -romance novels of woe and love. It would be something with backbone, with real content.

Maybe it would be in Latin, quoting words of the wisest or even fiercest warriors, the same words that fell from his lips in the heat of passion. Maybe he had taken up finally reading the old Chinese scrolls from the Ming Dynasty that Carlisle had collected on his travels in the old world when he was still a member of the vampire mafia. Maybe he would-

"Hello, Leah." A deep voice sounded behind her, making her body tense, and her hand tremble against the bottle.

Closing her eye's she wished more than anything that this was a joke, that the person standing behind her was not really there, and that it was all just a figment of her imagination. Her wild fucked up imagination. A figment much like the dreams that filled her restless nights, dreams that froze her body and stayed playing like old films behind her lids, even when she was awake. Films of times when she would just sit beside him, when his fingers would brush her lower back, when his weight pressed over hers.

"You know your brother has been crazy worried about you?"

His dark curly hair hung around the brim of the hat, making him look like a teenage moron. She had to press her lips together to stop herself from screaming at the top of her lungs. By him knowing where she was, it was just as good as texting her location to her mother or the gossip queen of LaPush, Billy Black. Letting out a loud sigh she allowed her eyes open and linger over his massive frame. If she hadn't known what a big softie he was, she may have been intimidated.

_Maybe_.

"How did you find me?" she grimaced, placing the bottle down in between her thighs so she could tighten the band in her hair. She should have been able to smell his sweet sugary scent from a mile away and it was surprising that she hadn't. Especially since he was one of the largest leeches she'd ever come across. A big brick wall of idiot.

"Awww come on Leah, I may not have any super powers like those other losers I call brothers, but I sure do know how to track a cell phone."

Emmett laughed as he plonked down on the matching plastic chair beside her, his loud booming voice making her feel slightly at home and reminiscent of her pack brothers. She couldn't help but chuckle along with him as the chair squeaked angrily underneath him.

It amazed her that he hadn't broken through the old material from his huge weight. There had been many times where she had had to leave the room because one of those wolf idiots did something stupid. It was usually Paul, with his every present 'patience' or lack thereof, who broke all of the chairs at the Black house when they would congregate for meetings. It took all she had not to turn purple from laughing as he picked up the broken pieces of chair and smashed them into the ground like the hulk.

"Beer?" she inquired playfully, running her fingertips over the small cooler before patting it lovingly. Her cooler was her life saver, her own little release after a shift down at the bar. It felt nice having the afternoon off, relaxing, thinking. Even if all the thoughts did stem back to a certain married leech.

"Now you're just teasing" he frowned, watching as she reached for her beer again and took a hearty sip making sure to smack her lips together in satisfaction.

"Pity - It might put some hair on your chest," she shrugged leaning back into the chair once again.

She smiled to herself, noticing Emmett's body was fully covered in clothing, stocked with a black cap pulled on his head. The diamond like sparkles shone from his neck as he leaned back as well, enjoying what rays of the sun he could catch.

It was rare to see the luminescent glow of a vampire and she couldn't help but cringe; remembering how Jasper kept himself hidden much the same. Not even when they were intimate did he want to fully undress, and she often felt stupid being naked for him, standing in front of him as he asked.

Every scar he hid from her, even when she'd begged him to show her.

It was something she wanted to share with him, something that she wanted to know about him. Feeling like a stupid little girl, she often scolded herself for wanting to kiss them, trace them with her fingers, her lips. She wanted - _needed_ to show him how much she wanted him, baggage and all.

After all, she was half a bottle of Tequila off from being a total psychopath herself.

"You'd know all about that now wouldn't you she wolf," Emmett grinned as he pulled the hat lower over his face to block the sun from his unnaturally golden eyes.

"Shut up" she growled, watching as his lips broke across his face from the huge smile he held.

Even though they argued like a couple of horny teenagers, Leah like Emmett; a lot.

He was just so carefree, his view of life more than often pissing her off, especially when it came to his over bearing need to shower it upon her. Even though he was a leech, he was happy. He had family, a wife, two parents that loved him and all eternity to bask in his own awesomeness.

Sitting in silence for a moment, Leah's eyes flicked back to the scenery, taking in the desert. It was dry and dusty, much like one would expect of a sleepy Texan town. Fortunately, rain clouds built on the horizon looking like they'd finally drop some much needed rain on the area. Maybe the dead grass around her caravan would finally grow?

Even though El Paso saw little rain, when they did, it usually meant trouble. Big storms brewed, thunder and lightning cracking down on the little town, often taking out the power for days and cutting off the roads that lead back to the interstate.

"So back to your brother-"

"Are you seriously trying to convince me you came all this way on Seth's behalf?" she asked suspiciously with a raised brow, knowing the big vamp had a hidden agenda. He had to, he always did. Emmett didn't just do things for the sake of doing them, even if he acted like a complete dick.

Looking at her sheepishly for a moment, he allowed his eyes to roll knowing the jig was up. "Well that's only part of it. The kid won't stop moping around the house. I can't even get a decent game out of him since you left. Do you have any idea how hard it is for an awesome vampire to find a worthy opponent on Halo Live?"

"No. Why don't you tell me about all your mad skills?" she answered flatly, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

Pumping a fist in the air he hollered "Finally some recognition from someone who isn't part of the family. Don't get me wrong, I love those kids - it's just sometimes, they're just _so_ boring."

"Emmett-" Leah growled in frustration knowing he was tip toeing around something. After all, it wasn't everyday a giant pale vampire showed up at your trailer.

"Fine." he pouted before sitting up in his chair a little. "About two weeks ago Alice started to have visions of you."

Leah couldn't help but roll her eyes "And - why would she even care? It's not like we were close or anything."

Taking another sip from the green glass bottle, she eyed him sparingly.

"Don't be like that Leah -Alice likes you, even if you did try and steal her husband."

Leah couldn't help but scoff, before hurling the bottle at his head, which he managed to catch with ease. "I didn't try and _steal_ him" she snapped, glaring darkly at him "I'll have you know he came quite - _willingly."_

"Well you _are _hot, maybe if you imprinted on me we could have made it work. I'd give my left leg to see you and Rosalie tongue the shit out of each other. Man, I think I'd cum just-"

"Emmett!" Leah scolded, wrinkling her face in disgust.

"Oh right right. As I was saying, Alice has been having visions of you."

"I thought she couldn't see hybrids or shifters," Leah stated rolling her eyes again.

It wasn't that she completely hated the little vamp. It was just that Alice happened to have something that she wanted. That pixie vamp was the one thing standing in her way.

Over the last years she'd contemplated ripping her pretty little head from her shoulder's but often recoiled from the idea when Jasper raised his brow at the emotions she was projecting. The moment she realised killing Alice would break Jasper's heart, she backed off, ran home and left nothing intact when she'd gotten to her destination.

When she'd finally stopped punching and pulverizing everything in the small room, her legs collapsed from underneath her and she cried herself into a near coma.

Jasper cared for Alice and _not_ for her. End of fucking fairy-tale.

"Exactly," Emmett clapped. "She shouldn't be able to see you. She still gets headaches trying to see the rest of the pack - but in the last few weeks it changed. Well, _you _changed to be more precise."

"And what exactly did the emo pixy see? The top I wore didn't match my shoes? My hair was a mess? My-"

"She saw you die." Emmett interrupted, watching closely for any leaking emotions.

"And?" she replied nonchalantly.

Death wouldn't have been much different from where she way now. Her heart no longer beat, unless it was for him. Days looked less bright; nights seemed colder and very much darker. It was as if someone had stolen the light of her life, leaving her to merely drag her feet along, keeping her chin up just enough to be able to breathe.

"And? And! We won't let you die, Leah. If not for your own sake, imagine Jasper. If you died-"

Cutting Emmett off by slamming her hand to the top of the cooler, she all but screamed at him, a slither of rage pulsing through her.

"If I died, Jasper would be just fine, like he always is – just _fine_. He doesn't get to mess with my life anymore. He chose Alice and we all need to let that be-"

"You mean you choose _for_ him. Maybe he needed time, you know," Emmett replied, shrugging his large shoulders, not effected at all by her outburst.

"His silence was his answer."

Standing from the chair she brushed her hands against her shorts. "You need to leave. I can't have you come here and fuck shit up for me. I have a good thing going here with Gordon and Eric, they may not be family, but they welcomed me as such."

"Leah - that's not fair-" he began, his shoulder's dropping and a small pout on his lips.

"Life's not fair Emmett. We all just have to roll with the punches," Leah replied, giving him an uncomfortable smile before walking into her portable home and slamming the metal door, locking it.

Knowing that Emmett could easily break through the door, hell, the wall even, she stood leaning against the stove just in case.

Hearing the heavy trenching of his boots in the opposite direction, she laid her head against the wooden cupboard, banging it a couple of times in frustration.

This shit was never going to end.


	4. An Unexpected Foe

Chapter Four

"God Dammit Gordon, where is Lucy?" Leah shouted, as the house band cranked out another rock n roll classic.

She wasn't sure why so many people went crazy for the idiots on stage but she had a suspicion it had more to do with the tequila that was being poured than the music.

Luke, the lead singer for the band was a good looking guy. Of course when he suggested they fuck because of such, Leah gave him the finger and told him to go fuck his mother.

Of course she couldn't keep him away from the bar, but at least she could glare at him from behind it with her arms crossed when he tried to sing a slow soft ballad with his eyes locked on her. It wasn't much - but it was something.

"On her way. Babysitter got grounded so she had to drop the kid off to her sister. Don't get your knickers in a twist honey" he laughed, bumping her shoulder playfully. "She'll be here."

Leah rolled her eyes as she twisted the cap off another beer and slammed it on the counter in exchange for the five on the wet, peanut shell covered bench. "Easy for you to say, he-who-supervises-but-doesn't-get-his-hands-dirty."

At least once Lucy arrived she would be able to take a quick break to go find Eric. She hadn't seen him all day. He'd left his skateboard on the porch and when she'd walked into the house from her caravan, still half asleep, she'd almost broken her neck by tripping on the piece of shit.

Leaning against the wooden bar, Gordon flashed her a brilliant smile reminding her of her father. "I'm an old man Leah. I _deserve_ to rest."

Scoffing Leah threw a piece of ice at him in disbelief. "Bullshit. You're what – 40? Come back to me when you're 70 and we'll have this conversation again. And next time I might actually have some sympathy for you."

Clicking his tongue in his mouth, Gordon shook his head. "I would have given anything to have met you when I was a young man. You're the perfect woman. A no nonsense taker, ready to kick any guy in the balls if they fuck around."

Leah laughed wholeheartedly as she snatched the tea towel that he was using to wipe the bench, from his hand. "Thanks boss. Now get outta here, before all the sweet talk goes to my head, and I fire your ass."

"Yes ma'am," Gordon chuckled. "Definitely the woman of my dreams."

It wasn't until 25 minutes later that Lucy arrived. Her makeup was smudged and Leah could see wetness pooling in her eyes. Her curly blonde hair looked in shambles, the woman attempting to hide the unkempt style by pulling the thick nest into a high ponytail.

Before her co-worker had a chance to serve waiting customers at the bar, Leah pulled to aside toward the cash register and pretended to count the takings.

"What's with the hair Lu?" Leah asked, watching her female almost friend bite through her bottom lip in between her teeth. Lucy took a moment to reply, expelling a long breath.

"Would you stop looking at me like that?" she mumbled softly as she pulled her peach painted nails to her mouth and began tearing them away.

"Like what? I asked you a question. There a reason why you look like you just stepped out of a horror movie?"

Lucy's eyes darted to the back of the crowded bar toward a cluster of booths before she cleared her throat and looked back at Leah.

"Do I really look that bad?"

There was a slight tremble in the woman's voice as she spoke and Leah knew something was up.

"No - well - yeah, you do look that bad. God, look at it."

Changing the mood Leah tugged at a few strands of the limp blonde hair that hung loose from the pony tail.

"You're meant to lie," Lucy snapped, trying not to grin while she pushed Leah's hand away.

"Hey Luc," Eric waved as he walked quickly behind the bar to the back room, avoiding Leah completely.

"That little shit-" Leah growled, watching Eric slip around Gordon who was carrying another box of Tequila to the front. She would definitely catch him on her break.

"We have paying customers waiting, ladies", Gordon ebbed as he walked past the two hovering over the cash register. He would have stopped to say hi to his other barmaid but the box was obviously made for young backs and not his own.

Before Lucy could walk away, Leah snapped her wrist in her firm hold. "Hey - if you and that little monster of yours ever need a place to stay - you'll let me know right? The caravan is small but I wouldn't mind."

Leah was the only one allowed to call Jarrett, the three year old terror of Lucy's, a monster. And she had every right. The kid was a biter. Every time Leah held him she could guarantee that she would end up with bites over her neck and shoulders. The kid was a natural leech.

The grimace of Lucy's face alerted Leah to how hard she was holding her wrist. Sure, she was a shifter but that hold wouldn't have hurt even a human child.

The woman's eyes widened in horror as Leah slowly pushed up the long sleeve of her v neck top. Trying to pull her arm away, it was only then Leah placed pressure enough for her not to escape.

"Don't Lee - please," she whined, struggling harder now.

Leah's teeth ground together as she took in Lucy's arm. "Tell me you didn't let him back in your life."

"It's more complicated than that. Can we talk about it later, maybe alone?"

"We _will_ be talking - later," Leah grimaced, placing the white material back over Lucy's bruised pale skin and shutting the register with her hip.

...

"So-" Leah drawled as she sat atop the bar, her hands braced back and waiting for Lucy to speak.

"It's not what it looks like," Lucy mumbled, trying to distract herself by picking up the scattered glasses around the bar. The boys in the bar had had much more fun than anticipated and it took the sheriff and three of his officers to break up the multiple fights over the night. Once the bar had been cleaned out and Gordon had taken Eric home, it only left the two of them.

"Really? So it doesn't look like you have been grabbed at and Lord knows what else?"

"I - look, I can't talk about this Leah. It's a family thing. And just so you know - it wasn't Mari. He would never hurt me. Last time was a mistake."

Leah snorted "Mistake? The guy hit you and broke your eye socket. How the fuck was that a mistake? Because he missed your ribs? Your throat?"

Lucy let the tray of glasses smash to the floor. Her hands were shaking and her eyes streaking silent tears down her face.

"He was sorry," she whispered, hugging her arms around her torso to hold her elbows.

"Fuck!" Leah breathed, moving from the bar and grasping Lucy's hand to pull her away from the shattered glass on the ground.

"You don't understand Leah-" she sobbed, biting the inside of her cheek. "I love him, more than anyone - anything! I would give up everything for him. It's his brother who is messing everything up! Mari just follows him around like a lost dog. Anything Kyle wants, Kyle gets Lee. Even _me_. Mari has _no_ choice."

Leah hugged Lucy mightily, holding her head in a tight embrace due to the height difference. The girl shivered, sobbed and wailed in her arms. She had spent her fair share around women and now knew why she preferred having guy friends. Women wanted to be comforted by touch a hell of a lot more than men. It wasn't that she was complaining though. Lucy was the only one, besides Gordon and Eric, who actually greeted her to El Paso. Every other asshole had just walked on by. Asking for directions was like asking someone for a liver in these parts.

"I can't believe Mari would let that happen. When I meet his stupid ass I am going to set him on fire."

"No please don't" Lucy cried, holding her palms flat against Leah's back and pulling her closer. Lucy knew without a doubt Leah would carry out her plans. She couldn't have Lee hurt her Mari. Because without Mari who knows what Kyle would do. He'd already threatened the life of Jarrett many times before.

"Wait-" Leah breathed, feeling a licking heat of familiarity in her spine. "Do you just say - _Kyle_?" Flashes of the three men in the back alley two days ago came to mind.

Pulling away Leah blinked rapidly feeling a pinch in her lower back. She hadn't felt pain without a cause since before her phase. Snatching at the material of her shirt, her fingers fumbled over a cool metallic edge. "What's Mari short for Lu?"

The dreaded feeling of weightlessness began to quiver in Leah's legs, like cool dye was being poured through her veins and down her body. Grabbing at the tube of plastic lodged in her back, she pulled the item to her face.

"I'm so sorry Leah" Lucy sobbed, her hands covering her gasp as Leah fell to one knee. "It's a drug. They said they won't hurt you, they only want to talk."

"Who?" Leah snarled, her eyes unsteadily shaking the room around her.

"Kyle. He says he'll give me back my son if I do this one thing. He has him you know, he has my baby. He says he'll leave me and Mari alone forever if I just brought you to him."

Leah's palm shot out and met the hard cement of the ground to partially catch her fall. She could feel her body weaken, her senses slowly dimming.

"You idiot," she grunted as her other hand swung around toward the cement. "You think he just wants to talk to me?"

"I'm sorry."

"Your husband - his name-"

Lucy stood over Leah, tying her hands together using a piece of cloth torn from her shirt. She quickly wove it around and over tying it in place. "You've already met him. His name is Marius."

...

Gordon woke to the thundering sound of what sounded like a dinosaur belting on his front door. He groaned looking over at the clock. It was only 4am and he was going to kill who was ever at the door knocking at the unconscionable hour. If it was one of Eric's friends, or one of his ex-wife's brothers, he was going to blow them away with his trusty shot gun.

Dragging himself out of bed, he slipped his feet into his house slippers and drudged down the steps, stopping only once to retrieve the loaded shot gun from beside the fridge. It was always a just in case at this time of early morning.

Opening the door without having the energy to look through the peep hole, Gordon snagged the shot gun his daddy used to chase off Moron's, to his shoulder.

His breath caught in his throat when his head had to tilt up to look at the man standing on the porch. He was at least seven foot tall, and the size of the grizzly bears in Montana he had once seen as a child. The man wore all black, his black military boots looking like he could crash a normal man's skull with a mere kick.

Willing what bravely he had Gordon spoke in a low growl. "Who are you and why the fuck are you knocking on my door?"

"Whoa dude-" The huge man said, his voice so low it felt like an earthquake had moved through his body. "Look - shit - can you put down the gun. It will hurt like fuck if you shot me."

"My intention exactly if you don't answer my questions. Who are you?"

"Uh - Emmett Cullen. Look, real sorry about waking you but I have a problem. I'm a friend of Leah's - the girl who lives in the caravan around back."

Gordon rolled his eyes, unimpressed with the man so far. Leah had never mentioned any friends, let alone male friends that looked like Gladiators. "I know who Leah is, smart ass. Funny - she's never spoken of you."

"Yeah look - man come on - you really need to put the gun down, you're making me nervous."

Cocking the gun Gordon aimed it nozzle right at Emmett's chest. "Tell me what you what from Leah."

"She's missing." Emmett said with a low growl, hating the fact that a loaded weapon was drawn on him. In his younger days as a new born, he'd thought himself invincible. Of course a bullet wouldn't kill him, but it still hurt like an asshole's breakfast.

"Wrong. She locked up and came home. Her car's out back."

Gordon had woken up hearing the familiar sound of the rabbit pull into the back of the lot. He hadn't bothered getting up to check if it was her. His ears had almost memorised the sound.

"Trust me, she's not back there - I would be able to smell her." Emmett tightened his lips as soon as he realised what he'd said. The man's eyes seemed to blaze furiously as the words registered in his mind.

"Smell - _smell_ her?"

"We are not going to get anything from him, Emmett. He's been confused the whole time. He knows nothing"

Gordon watched as a lean man stepped from the shadows. Even in the dark, the moons rays seemed to illuminate his honey blonde hair. Having two men standing in front of his house made a slither of panic rush through him.

"We aren't here to hurt you, old man," the blonde drawled, his accent clearly highlighting the old southern and very Texan accent. "We are looking for - the girl."

Gordon could feel his mind starting to buzz with a comfortable ease. He felt that they were telling the truth and that maybe they were really here to only help Leah. That only meant one thing. Leah was in trouble. Why oh why didn't he check on her when she'd come home, make sure it was her. Had someone snatched her from the caravan which was only 50 feet from the back porch? Could he have stopped them?

"Worrying won't help either. You need to tell us where you last saw her."

"I - she's - my bar. It about 10 miles heading south, just outside of the back end of town."

Gordon felt the inexplicable need to lower his weapon, so he did.

"Emmett," the blonde instructed. "You take the car. I'll run."

Gordon's eyes drifted toward the bear man as he moved like lightning towards a dark Mercedes he hadn't noticed in the drive. Hearing the screeching of tyres within seconds, his eyes snapped back to the blonde expecting an explanation. But he merely stood, golden eyes staring at him like he was some kind of prey.

"Thank you," the man whispered, confusing Gordon for the second time that night. "For taking her in. For keeping her safe this long. You don't understand how much I - _wish_ - I could have given that to her."

Another second passed, and the man was gone, leaving Gordon on his front porch, pointing a shot gun into thin air.


	5. Once upon a time

Chapter Five

Ten miles of rocky and unsealed roads left Leah with a painstaking splint on the side of her head. The heightened healing power of her body had managed to make her only vaguely aware of what was going on around her. As soon as she'd hit the carpeted inside of Lucy's sedan, her eyes had flicked open, the task of willing her limbs to move was still left to be desired. While her eyes were open, the rest of her body was not operating as it should.

_Figures those stupid fucks would stuff up the dosage_, she thought jaggedly to herself.

Hearing the blubbering apologies sprouting from Lucy's mouth from the front of the car made her want to bang her head on the jack so she'd black out again. No amount of apologies would make up for this mess.

The smell of petrol swirled around her as she studied the inside of the boot. There was nothing in particular standing out at her that she could use to escape. The non-existent use of her limbs had disadvantaged her greatly. With a grunt she felt her cheek twitch, the sedative slowly wearing down and washing through her body. Her forehead and eyebrows had been set free of the crippling numbness and she hoped to God it moved faster.

Feeling the washing stillness move further, her nose began to scrunch and flare. But hearing the slow drawl of the tyres she feared it was going to be all in vain. The car lurched and the sound of the hand brake clinking into place had Leah squinting her eyes rapidly.

_Fuck my life_; she groaned mentally hearing the jingle of keys and the slamming of doors.

She could already smell the faint scent of her visitors from the encounter in the back alley of Gordon's bar. It was dark and musky, like the distinct smell of male mixed with ash and fire.

It was hauntingly strange and so different from the ice like sweetness she'd come accustomed to from Jasper. Every time she'd pressed her lips against his jaw, she'd always managed to lick and nip against his smooth marble skin.

He'd made her a whore; insatiable and never satisfied. She herself didn't understand how she could burn against him when his body was nothing more than ice against her heat.

Her ears pricked up as Lucy began talking away. The girl had made her way around the car and Leah could hear the continued nervous jingle of the car keys in her hands. For the life of her, had anyone asked at the beginning of their friendship, Leah never would have guessed Lucy would have sold her out. It could be expected though. A child for a friend always had the same answer in a hostage situation. What kind of mother would she be if she hadn't done _anything_ to get her son back?

"I did as you said, now give me back my son."

There was plenty of fear in the woman's voice and yet Leah was impressed with the demanding tone she'd taken. She'd always been such a push over and a tiny slither of pride swelled in her heart for the young mother.

"You're right," Kyle grinned, scratching his cheek. "The keys."

Motioning for the keys, he caught them without much effort and signalled to one of the other men. "Follow Carlos. He will take you to the boy," he ordered, waiting until the woman scurried away.

He'd always detested Lucy's skittish behaviour and he realised a long time ago his brother Marius had only stayed with the human female because of her body and weak will.

Stepping forward his number two addressed him. "What are you doing?" Wylie knew the plan was to get rid of the Quileute girl, not use her to play games like he knew Kylie would have planned. "The sun will be up soon and we need to have all the evidence planted. I need sufficient time to stage the accident."

"Yes," Kyle replied, understanding Wylie's agitation in the situation. "However I think she would be much more valuable- _alive."_

Whispering low toward his alpha, Wylie shook his head. "If we do not have 'Proof of death' delivered to the buyer, our payment won't go through. And unlike you, I really need that payment."

Stretching his shoulders out Kyle rotated his neck, enjoying the sound of each vertebrae cracking and realigning it. "Do you trust your Alpha, Wylie? Rest assured, the money will be ours friend, your skills are too advanced for the buyer to even realise the change."

"A change? What _change_?" his beta hissed lowly in a confused manner.

"This one stays with me," Kyle grinned, tapping the top of the boot lid. "The blonde, use her body to stage your masterpiece."

"What about the kid?" Wylie asked.

Jarrett was Kyle's nephew and Marius' son and while they were a tight unit, family ties were not on the priority. Family was illogical, making one weak, vulnerable and easy to attack. Without the bonds of family, they were as strong as they would ever be.

"Dump it. Give it to one of the other women. I don't care. Just get it done."

Before Leah could even stew in her own shock at what she'd heard, the boot lid clicked open and a huge native man stood staring at her. She watched the easy smirk slide over his face and she battered her eyes open and closed to will the serum to move down her body.

"Surprise," he announced, laying his arms under the fold of her knees and one under her upper back.

Laying his mouth next to her ear, he spoke softly, almost violently hissing. "I told you, I always get what I want."

...

Jasper sat in the darkest corner of the motel lodge, his knee bent up on the chair and his head resting in his hand.

Alice had gone with Emmett to hunt and he'd refused their invitation to join, leaving him all alone in the fashionably old style lodgings. Had it been up to him they would not have rested at all. He wouldn't have cared less if he sat outside, in the desert sands.

He felt hopeless sitting with his neatly pressed clothes in the lavish room. A pile of clothes for him to change into sat atop the bed, though his interest in showering was far from the forefront of his mind.

Alice had even gone so far to pack extra clothes for them all as if they were embarking on a holiday in Italy rather than stopping the biggest atrocity in the world to happen. Had he not loved the small vampire so much, he may have told her that they didn't have time or rather left her with the rest of the family and gone alone with only Emmett by his side. If he had, they may have been able to stop Leah from being taken and he wouldn't feel like a part of him was now slowly being severed from his chest.

Emmett had arrived in Washington first, headstrong to find Leah and warn her, perhaps try to convince her to come home and be with the ones that loved her. Emmett was a good brother, a good man, and above all else a loyal friend to both him and the she wolf.

Jasper had warned Emmett from the beginning that trying to trap a woman made of fire was a difficult task, and not even he, with all his infinite fight and combat skills, could corner the spirit inside the woman.

He'd never been able to hold her down.

His brother had told him of her situation, the man that provided her shelter and means of work and the small life she led in El Paso. Emmett had watched her every night, patrolled around the area she lived and her place of employment, unbeknown to her. It wasn't until the third day where he began to feel the weak part of him start to emerge, along with the furious need to feed.

He'd slipped away only for a moment, three hours to be exact, and that is when all Hell broke loose.

Jasper and Alice had arrived on the earliest plane and even that seemed to take too long. By the time he found his brother, Emmett was already searching the arid bush land for her. Every crevice, every rock, and every pile of sand he had kicked and still he came up with nothing.

It had now been three days since she'd been taken. Emmett had even gone as far to look in the papers for unusual activity. Maybe a vampire who was not held by a truce with the Cullen's was doing this? Maybe she'd made friends with the wrong people? Maybe Jasper's deep dark past had finally caught up to him? For all the theories they had, they had even less answers and the longer the time slipped away the less hope he held.

"Jasper..." Emmett hollered, as he jerried the door with a quickly flick of his wrist, snapping the door and sending it flying.

"Emmett," Jasper growled in both annoyance and impatience. "What have you found?"

If it wasn't the clear look of distress on Emmett's face, it was definitely his emotions that were giving away the panic. "We were hunting. We found this okay patch of land. It was weird, the animals out here even taste like sand and nothingness. Like they have no blood in their-"

"Emmett," Jasper hissed, launching across the room effortlessly and shaking his larger, more powerful brother's shoulders, to snap him out of the jabbering nonsense he seemed to be spilling.

"Concentrate for me. Tell me what you found."

Flashes of sadness and pity shot across his porcelain features, his back hunching a little. "Jaz, the story we read in the news yesterday, about the woman in the cliff accident-"

"That's not possible Emmett," Jasper snapped, feeling the slow grate of his teeth move amongst his mouth. "If she were dead, I wouldn't be able to feel her."

Laying a hand on his distraught brother's shoulder, Emmett frowned. "They thought the woman had just fallen asleep and slid off the road. But the coroner did a cut job at midday today-"

"Don't tell me Emmett," Jasper said, not wanting to hear any more.

His brother continued much to Jasper's distress. "She had a bullet hole in her head. It wasn't an accident; she'd been killed hours before."

Falling down to one knee, Jasper grabbed the material over his chest and tugged it open. Placing his hand against the solid marble of his skin he shook his head, trying to get rid of the lies. He could still feel her connection inside him, the one she'd tried to break that day she left, the day she stopped loving him.

"You. are. wrong. I feel her... still."

"Brother-" Emmett breathed, crouching down to grab Jasper's shaking hand in his own. "They found her belongings in the car."

"No," Jasper hissed, his eyes narrowing into slits at the liar in front of him.

"Alice has also seen the funeral her family will hold. She didn't tell you because she didn't want to upset you."

"_No_!" Jasper said again, this time with much more force in his tone. "She _is_ out there Emmett. She waits for me. I can still feel her heart beating inside my own."

"Jasper?" Alice called from the doorway, the light tapping of her shoes making her noticeable before she entered. "Are you okay? Would you like me to get you something?"

The silence was thickening around them and Jasper wanted to scream at the emotion his wife was projecting at him. She was okay. She was happy. Happy that the news of Leah's death had finally reached his ears. Of all things at this very moment, his wife was ecstatic.

"I want to _see_ the body," he announced, taking a firm and well balanced position to cross him arms against his chest. "I need to see it."

"Honey - we can't just break into-"

"Had it been Bella who was suspected dead, would you have not done the same thing? Have you not already done the same things?" Alice frowned hearing her husband's tone of voice. He seemed desperate, broken, but above all angry.

"She's different," Alice whispered, as her eyes slowly made their way down and stayed against the grey swirled carpet. "You love _her_, and not like you love Bella."

Jasper was taken aback by the comment and slowly his short temper began to spark. Standing, he paced the room, looking more as though he was stalking than stepping.

"You question me about _that_, yet your own precious Bella could love another, other than Edward. You yourself have admitted to making a mistake before with Peter. You judge me and yet, you have many faults of your own."

Her hands were shaking by the time she replied, the feeling of ice fire lapping in her spine. "Well I didn't _fuck_ Peter, did I? Not like you touched _her._"

The normally calm demeanour of his wife seemed to shatter around her. For all the years he'd known her she'd never raised her voice at him. He supposed he deserved the snipe but still he couldn't find it in himself to apologise. Alice may have been his wife but like any relationship there had been cracks in the past, cracks big enough to enable Leah in.

He had been weary at first, scared of hurting this human looking girl but the more time he spent around her and her intense emotions, the more he was drawn to her aura. It was selfish of him to want to spend time with her, get to know this beautiful girl that seemed to think the sun shone in his eyes.

Over time, she got so close he knew it would take more than just a simple 'no' for her to push him away. He was infatuated with her skin, her hands, the way her heart beat fast when he brushed his lips over the inside of her elbow, the way her breath hitched when he'd whisper sweet words in her ears before dragging his cold lips down the back of her hot neck.

By the time she'd left her family and home, he'd become so addicted to her it was almost impossible to watch her car pull away that day. While his wife wanted so many things from him; to wear the right clothes, to act a certain way, to be part of a perfect family, all Leah wanted was anything he could give her. Along the way it just became all unfathomable. All of it. His southern loyalty had cost him the one thing that made him feel more than just a man, or doll. Leah made him feel alive, and yet, he stayed with Alice, his wife.

"Maybe you should have," Jasper snapped, baring his teeth and glowering at the small woman.

"How dare you! I looked after you, took you in, and loved you when no one else would. How dare you treat me like I am some kind of trash, a thorn in your perfect world. I bet she doesn't know how many people you've killed, how badly you want to do it again-"

"Guys, this isn't getting us anywhere," Emmett offered trying to diffuse such a sensitive topic. He and Rosalie had been used as a relationship bumper for the last six months and quite frankly, Emmett was sick of it.

"You're right," Jasper nodded, moving from the middle of the room toward the door.

Glancing at Alice Jasper sighed. "Go home Alice. You don't want to be here and no one is stopping you from leaving."

"How long will you stay out here, searching for a dead girl?"

Her voice was filled with venom as she stood with her hands fisted by her sides. Once upon a time, Alice was all he saw.

"As long as it takes."


	6. A foot short

Chapter Six

_Warning: Some non-consensual sexual acts to follow_

The room was dark as a single bulb swung from the low-lying ceiling. A thick wetness could be heard trickling down the walls from the moisture the small air conditioning system was trying it's hardest to fight against. The air was literally thick enough to cut with a knife. Humidity, it seemed, could make its way through everything, even the thick concrete walls of the tiny-boxed room. Like a thick fog, it settled in the air, making it harder than usual to breathe.

Leah sat bound to the chair, her inky black hair swaying in front of her face as her eyes begun to flutter open. She could feel the soft silk woven around her wrists to keep her bound upright and to the chair; start to cut into her skin. It would leave marks, perhaps scars - but she wasn't worried. She would heal - eventually.

Silver shapes shifted in front of her eyes, voices both low and high floating to her now desensitised ears. It was a vain attempt to even try to calculate how far the voices were, how much space she had between them and any kind of escape.

Everything was like an exponential haze. Colours bled into one another and solid lines crossed over to create a double effect. The ache in the back of her eyes pounded that little bit harder every time she attempted to shift and get a better line of sight. The task of focusing was non-existent, just as the ability to form clear words was. Her throat was dry; her shoulders aching from the pull the silk was inflicting to keep her hands bound and behind her back.

Letting out a groan, Leah turned her head to the side, stretching the muscles in her neck and rolling out the clicks from being stiffly positioned for much too long.

If she'd had enough strength she would have phased and ripped every single one of her captures apart, leaving Kyle for lucky last. But with the shots he kept having his disciples administer into her veins, she could barely keep her thoughts in one direction for a lengthened amount of time.

"Don't make so much noise," a female voice squeaked from somewhere inside the room, her ears perking immediately. "When you make too much noise they come back."

Breathing out a heavy breath she turned toward the direction of the sound. She could remember the last time she'd woken, screaming out to the bastards that kept the room locked and her body tied to the chair. Within moments one of the men had swiftly moved into the room to stick her again, in the neck no less, and so she was back out like a light.

"Who are you?" Leah rasped feeling the dry ache all the way down past her ribs and toward her empty stomach.

"Shhh," the scared voice hissed close to her ear making her finch back. "They'll come back."

"How long have you been in here?" Leah asked, licking across her dry lips in an attempt to whisper.

The silk felt like it burned against her heated skin and the pressure alone was making her agitated. She could feel her wolfs displeasure with the enclosed space, it's want to escape her human form to run and stretch it's limbs, weighing heavily inside her psyche.

"A week maybe - I'm not sure."

With a cough, Leah sucked back as much air as she could. The air was so damp, dirt covering the floor beneath them, particles of the dusty soil floating in the air. "What's your name?"

"June."

"Well, June. Untie me so we can get the fuck out of here." Leah growled, her patience slipping with the stranger.

Whimpering the girl backed away from her, the small padding of her bare feet against the soil echoing in Leah's ears like thunder.

Gritting her teeth and closing her eyes Leah hissed from the sudden sound. Her ears rung as silent bells went off inside her inner drum almost as if she were standing next to speakers at a rock concert. Her senses were shot to shit and whatever was in that needle was ass fucking every single nerve ending in her body.

Sound waves floated between her and the walls, making it seem as if she could also hear the electricity pulsing through the light bulb, its crackles and whizzes swirling around her head.

Then within a second it all went flat. Leaving as fast as it had come and leaving her in nothing but silence.

...

"Jasper, let's just think about this for a second," Emmett growled pushing his brother deeper into the small hospital's wall, trapping him from entering the ward. "There has to be an easier way to do this, we can't just go in there guns-a-fucking-blazing and freak all these humans out. There will be mass hysteria when they see you going vamp on people's asses."

"Get off me, Emmett. You're wasting time. I need to be sure - _now,_" Jasper growled, spinning the two and pushing off his brother.

Even though Emmett upped Jasper in the strength department, the blonde haired vampire often had counter moves to meet him halfway.

Tackling Jasper, Emmett pinned him to the ground with his huge weight, thankful, that with it being late in the night, the hospital halls were nothing more than ghostly corridors.

"Listen to me you _stubborn_ son of a bitch," the dark haired vamp roared as he slammed his brother's head into the tiled floors using his collar. Cracks appeared like a halo around Jasper's head as Emmett pressed his forearm against the blonde vampire's throat. Emmett was now sick of playing games and need his brother to listen.

"Listen, _just_ listen," he pleaded "Now - if we do this, we do it _right_. No fucking growling and making people piss their pants like you did to the guard at the front. And no breaking locks. We don't need to give these people a reason to doubt our story. So-" Emmett said a little softer this time, getting off his brother _feeling_ rather than hearing his agreement. "Get yourself together and let's do this."

Folding his collar down and grunting, Jasper ran a shaking hand through his blonde locks once he was on his feet. If vampires needed sleep, Jasper definitely looked like he hadn't had anything more than a wink. His usually bright golden eyes were dim, darkening each moment he refused to eat. "If you think you know what _this_ is like, you have no idea." He snapped hoarsely, emotion catching in his throat. "You love Rosalie, don't you?"

Emmett quirked an eyebrow, not fully understanding the question at hand knowing that in most cases Jasper meant more than he actually said.

"Of course I do. I'd do anything for her."

Resting his hand on the swinging door Jasper huffed. "Take that love Emmett and times it by all the stars in the nights sky. Now put yourself in _my_ shoes and tell me how you could live with yourself if that _is _Leah in there. Tell me how you would atone with your maker when you meet him - knowing that - if you hadn't broken her heart, she wouldn't be dead."

Letting his bulky brother think about the statement for a moment he pushed open the door leading toward the morgue. The smells of rancid death quickly assaulted his senses, the scent agitating him more than providing comfort.

"Jasper-" Emmett called out, his eyes softening "Even the dead can forgive, brother."

...

"Eat," Kyle commanded as he crouched down to untie Leah's bound hands. Her skin smelled of sweat, salty beads running down her paled russet skin. Her hair, while knotted and dishevelled, was still silk like and his fingers itched to touch the long curtain of endless black waves.

The first time he'd walked into the bar he knew she was different - knew she was somehow like him and his brothers. He could smell her, the sweet wafting scent of ocean spray and damp flowers.

Every night he'd gone to the establishment and watched her. The way she moved around the bar with finesse and grace was an inbuilt feature, something she didn't even know she was doing. But he could see in her movements that she was not completely human.

He knew she was an animal, carved from the same species as he. He could see her core strength hidden within the shapely feminine body. He could see the way her eyes saw everything without even watching.

He knew she was like him. His mate.

Her body fell forward once he'd released her bonds, his reflexes quick to catch her before she toppled toward the ground.

The small grunt that left her lips as he held her in his arms made the animal inside him purr with delight and endearment for the creature he'd managed to capture.

Without any reasonable doubt she was perfection - her hips wide ready for the birth of his children, her legs strong enough to hold her own, and her eyes big enough for him to love.

Using the palm of his hand, he pushed the matted hair from her face to reveal those perfect features. Lips which looked as though her ancestors had created them from clouds, soft lines of worry and distress on her face slowly smoothed out by his fingers, those bitter hazel eyes he had yet to see again.

"Open your eyes love," he whispered, kissing the corner of her mouth before running his rough lips across hers. He wanted nothing more than to delve in, taste her essence and tighten himself between her so she could never slip away. "I brought you food."

"Jas?" She murmured softly, shaking her head and sighing softly again.

"Open them Leah. Look at me."

Kyle's hands roamed from her thigh toward her stomach, brushing the soft skin there before moving upward and under her top. Her skin was hot and unlike his, flawless. His dark skin was marred with cuts, silent yet very loud proof of the valiant victories against his enemies.

"Jasper..." she sighed again, her head lulling back as Kyle's rough hand squeezed against the tender skin of her breast, his fingers toying with her nipple.

"Leah -" Kyle whispered violently in her ear, her body tugged forward toward him. "I'm going to claim you as my mate."

Flicking the buttons of her top open, he pulled at the material demanding it remove itself from her body as soon as possible.

"You're so hot," she murmured, pushing against his body in an attempt to get away from the heat source he was creating for her.

Sighing, he pulled his hand back and brushed his calloused thumb down her cheek, running it down and toward her shapely collar bone.

Kyle could already see the weight difference from when she'd arrived. In the beginning she been plump, beautiful, curvaceous, but now with her refusal to eat any of the food she was served he could see the weight falling off her.

Grasping the torn material from the ground, he laid it atop her chest and lifted her from the ground, kicking the food he had brought down for her in an attempt to make her eat.

Carrying her bridal style out of the small underground room, he made his way up the brick staircase toward the top of the house. Pushing open the top door with his toe he walked toward the master bedroom making sure to re-lock the door and place the key and chain back around his neck.

Holding her tightly he couldn't help but admire her neck, it's slender length making his mouth water, his incisor teeth pushing from beneath his lips, willing him to bite down and make her his.

"Boss-" Wylie called out from the kitchen making the Alpha stop in his tracks. "- Jericho's pack will be here in an hour."

Giving a grunt as his reply, Kyle opened the bedroom door and sauntered inside, kicking the hard wood closed with his boot.

Ripping the bed sheets back, he lay Leah down in the middle, softening out the edges around her.

"I have business to attended, so you be a good girl and stay right here."

Kissing her on the head and brushing his thumb against her lips, he backed out of the room and softly shut the door, making sure to secure the room preventing her from an escape.

...

Jasper's hand trembled as it hovered over the edge of the white sheet. He could feel the muscles in his body pulling together, tightening themselves in anticipation of what lay under the sheet. Even without the need to breathe he could feel himself sucking down copious amounts of air, the anxiety and despair ever present.

"Perhaps my brother can have a moment alone with his wife?" Emmett asked as he stepped from behind his brother, the darker haired vampire wanting to be prepared for the worst. If it was in fact Leah beneath the sheet, having a human so close to Jasper may have not been a good idea.

The mortician seemed to have bought the story they'd fed him and only nodded and grunted his approval as he turned and pushed open the double doors to leave the room.

"It's not her," Jasper finally breathed out and stepped back, the sheet not lifting at all.

Emmett couldn't understand how his brother had drawn such a conclusion without even looking at the remains. "How can you be sure?"

"It's not her," the blonde snapped more harshly this time, a snarl menacing its way onto his face.

Jasper had had enough of small talk and needed to get back to searching the lands for Leah. He detested the thought of having to see Alice again once he went back to the motel but he shrugged it off, his wife being the least of his problems at the moment.

He paused for a second before he turned and walked swiftly out of the room, Emmett following close on his heels. "Jas wait. Fuck. How did you know? How did you know it wasn't her?"

Jasper didn't look at his brother as he answered, a thick longing already lodging in the pit of his stomach. He'd ached for her while she'd been gone but this was something different. This was the guilt that was eating him from the inside out. This was the guilt of a man who could not return the same amount of love to a woman who deserved it and all its entirety. This was a man who was loved unconditionally but refused to see its true value until he'd lost her. Essentially everything that was good and true about him.

"Leah is close to six feet tall, Emmett. That body barely made it to five."


End file.
